Virtual Desktop has collaborated with Qualcomm to integrate the company’s Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, a software enhancement squarely targeted at increasing the wireless streaming quality and latency of PC visuals to Quest 2.
Virtual Desktop is a great tool not only because it provides Quest users wireless access to their computers, but because its developer, Guy Godin, is constantly adding in new features to tempt users away from using built-in solutions, i.e. Air Link.
That’s a tall order since Air Link is free and actually pretty great, letting Quest users connect to their VR-ready PCs to play games like Half-Life: Alyx, but Virtual Desktop goes a few steps further. With its PC native application developed for high quality wireless Quest streaming, you can do things like cycle through multiple physical monitors and even connect to up to four separate computers—a feature set you probably won’t see on the Air Link change log.
Now Godin has worked with Qualcomm to integrate the company’s Snapdragon Game Super Resolution for built-in upscaling, essentially creating higher resolution images from lower resolution inputs so it can be served up to Quest in higher fidelity. Check out the results below:
Because producing clearer visuals with fewer resources is the name of the game, Qualcomm says in a blog post that its techniques can also reduce wireless bandwidth, system pressure, memory, and provide power requirements.
Godin says in a Reddit post that the new upscaling works with “Potato, Low, Medium quality (up to 120fps) and High (up to 90fps), and it upscales to Ultra resolution under the hood. It can work with SSW enabled as well and doesn’t introduce any additional latency.”
You can get Virtual Desktop on Quest over at the Quest Store, priced at $20. It’s also available on Pico Neo 3 and Pico 4, which you can find in-headset over on the Pico Store.
Just a few weeks ago Zero Latency announced some upgrades which include ditching the heavy backpacks and opting for a new system that wirelessly streams content to headsets from on-site PCs. After a demo at the company’s Docklands location in Melbourne, I can see the appeal.
I’ve tried Zero Latency twice before, and while both times were enjoyable, there were limitations with the tracking capabilities and comfort options for each player. It was a good location-based experience but it also wasn’t perfect.
New and existing venues, however, will now move to a new system. The heavy backpack PC and HP Reverb combination is being phased out in favor of a new solution where players are fitted with a standalone headset — a HTC Vive Focus 3 — and a gun peripheral. All of the content is now rendered by on-site PCs streaming wirelessly to each player’s headset. It supports up to eight players per session and uses cutting edge Wi-Fi 6E technology.
Wi-Fi 6E, which uses a higher frequency 6GHz band, is so new that it hasn’t even been approved by most national regulators yet. Australia is one of the first countries to do so, which has allowed Zero Latency to set up its new Docklands venue in Melbourne as the first with the wireless system.
Getting rid of heavy backpack PCs provides a smoother experience for both staff and players, while also significantly cutting down on the pre-session briefing and setup time. During the sessions, players are more free than ever and much less restricted in movement without the backpack and its associated straps and cords. Everything feels much more seamless and accessible.
From a technology perspective, I was worried that the new system might fall victim to unreliability and high latency — two well-known pressure points for wirelessly streaming VR content. However, coming out of a demo last week, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and reliable everything was. For the overwhelming majority of my near-45 minute playtime, I experienced little-to-no hiccups in terms of streaming performance — just two very brief freeze frames lasting barely a second. Otherwise, the headset fed me reliable, high-quality visuals that remained steady throughout. The tracking was also noticeably improved and seemed less glitchy than my previous Zero Latency sessions a few years ago.
That being said, it’s still not completely matched to locally-rendered VR on a Quest 2 or a wired PC VR system. Experienced VR users will likely notice a tiny amount of latency, most prominent when physically moving around the play space. It’s more noticeable than Oculus Link, for example, but I didn’t find it detrimental to the experience in any way. Importantly, it was never enough to make me feel uncomfortable or nauseated. Likewise, those with a keen eye might also notice that the image quality is very good, but still compressed for streaming performance — again, a minor nitpick.
It’s unlikely most players would be bothered by — or even notice — these differences and they feel like acceptable trade-offs for the overall improvements in every other area. This was my most comfortable, reliable and enjoyable session at Zero Latency yet, by quite a long shot.
The move to the HTC Vive Focus 3, pictured above, is also a huge upgrade. I found it to be the most comfortable headset offered by Zero Latency yet, while also significantly easier to fit and adjust to my liking. Best of all, there’s an IPD dial on the bottom of the headset, allowing you to easily and precisely adjust the lens distance at any time — a crucial option to avoid nausea and increase comfort.
While the Docklands location in Melbourne is the first to get the new technology, the plan is to roll it out across all new venues and upgrade existing ones as soon as possible. Speaking with Zero Latency CTO Scott Vandonkelaar after my demo, he told me that one of the bigger roll-out hurdles is simply waiting on Wi-Fi 6E certification in other countries.
That being said, once that comes through, the new system should be cheaper and quicker to set up than any other Zero Latency system so far — the setup time for Docklands was just one day, down from several days or even weeks with previous systems.
While the current plan is to continue using on-site PCs for rendering, Vandonkelaar also told me that they’ve experimented with remote cloud rendering in certain areas. That comes with some expected trade-offs — an increase in latency and decrease in bitrate — but Zero Latency says preliminary testing has found those numbers still within an acceptable range. It would likely be decided on a case-by-case basis according to location, but Vandonkelaar says it could become a viable option in the future.
It will be interesting to see how Zero Latency develops its content offerings for this new generation of location-based VR. At Docklands, I tried Zombie Arena, a experience developed in-house, and part of Far Cry VR, brought to Zero Latency in partnership with Ubisoft and developed by nDreams. While the former was still quite enjoyable, it was the latter that was more visually impressive and likely more compelling to casual audiences.
While Vandonkelaarwas remained tight-lipped, he hinted that more content partnerships might already be in the works. Popular properties like Star Wars and Avengers helped draw people to The Void locations pre-pandemic, so we’ll be watching to see if Zero Latency is able to bring a similar level of new content to its locations with this new setup.
Oculus Air Link is an integrated way to play PC VR games (on Oculus PC or SteamVR) wirelessly on Quest or Quest 2. This guide will show you how to activate the Air Link feature on both your headset and your desktop software.
Oculus Air Link requires that both your Quest headset and Oculus PC software are running v30 or later. Here’s how to check:
On Quest
In your Quest headset, open the Settings app (in your app library)
On the left side of the Settings page, scroll down to find the About section
On the About page, see the Version section, which should read 30.X or later (it may be a very long version number, like 30.0.0.221.359…)
If you aren’t already on v30 or later, see if there’s a prompt to update your headset on the About page next to the Software Update section. There’s no way to force the update, but if it says ‘No Updates Available’, you could try restarting your headset and checking again.
On Your PC
On your PC, launch the Oculus PC app (if you don’t already have it installed, you can download it here)
On the left side of the app, select Settings then go to the General tab
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the General section where you will find the version number which should read 30.X or higher (it may be a very long version number, like 30.0.0.222.459…)
If you aren’t already on v30 or later, go to the Library section and then the Updates tab, you may see an ‘Oculus Software Update’ item in the list. Allow it to update and restart the software if prompted, then check again to see if you are on version 30 or later.
If you still aren’t on v30, go to the Settings section and then the Beta tab. Enable the Public Test Channel option, then return to the Library section and the Updates tab to see if an ‘Oculus Software Update’ appears. Allow it to install and then check your version number again to see if you’re on v30 yet.
Ok so you’re running the right version of the software and have activated Air Link on both devices. Now you’re ready to play. Here’s how:
On Your PC
Launch the Oculus PC software
On Quest
In your Quest headset, click on the system clock in the menu bar to open the Quick Actions page
On the left side of the Quick Actions page, click the Oculus Air Link button (you may be prompted with an ‘Air Link Requirements’ pop-up, read them then click Continue
In the next dialogue select your computer under Available Computers and click Pair
If you are prompted with a Pairing Code, go to your PC and click Confirm on the prompt
Back inside your headset, select your PC again and then Launch
Once you are running Oculus Air Link you will find yourself looking at the Oculus PC dashboard called Oculus Dash. From here you can launch Oculus PC games directly from the Library tab (or launch them on your PC).
If you want to run SteamVR games first activate Oculus Link so that you can see the Oculus Dash. Then you’ll need to launch Steam on your PC and then launch SteamVR by clicking the VR icon at the top right of the Steam window. SteamVR should automatically detect your Quest, and when you put your headset back on you’ll find yourself looking at the SteamVR dashboard.
From here you can launch SteamVR games from the Library tab of the SteamVR dashboard (or launch them from Steam on your PC).
If you want to stop playing PC VR games on Quest, you can quit Oculus Air Link by opening the Oculus Dash menu (click the menu button on your right controller), then looking on the far left of the menu bar to find the Oculus Air Link section.
Inside the section there is a ‘Quit’ button which will return you to the regular Quest dashboard).
A newly published patent granted to Valve envisions new Index headsets that could be wireless or standalone, and include new head-mounts for improved ergonomics.
Initially filed back in September, 2020, more than a year after the launch of Valve’s Index headset, a patent published today gives us a glimpse of some of Valve’s thinking about potential next-gen Index headsets.
The patent covers a lot of ground, ranging from wireless and standalone versions of the headset to new ergonomic approaches aimed at making easier and more intuitive adjustments for comfort. While patents aren’t a guarantee that a company is actually building a product, the new patent shows that Valve has been thinking in detail about the designs described therein, right down to the specific way that cables and straps would move and fold as the headsets are adjusted.
The patent appears to show three major versions of an Index-like headset, all of which include a large section on the rear of the headstrap which the patent says could contain hardware for operating the headset either wirelessly or in a standalone fashion.
Image courtesy Valve
The first version looks the most like the original Index, but with a bulky rear section and a new dial on the top strap with a stiffened section designed to make the headset’s straps easier to adjust.
Image courtesy Valve
Another version has a more sleek looking rear section on the headset, out of which a spring-loaded pad protrudes for gripping underneath the occipital bone.
Image courtesy Valve
The third version of the headset seen in the patent has a rigid pad for gripping the occipital lobe, along with two dials, on the same plane, for adjusting the side and top straps.
In the latter two cases, it would appear that an objective of the design, beyond being more comfortable, may be to make room for wireless or standalone components that are kept somewhat away from the user’s head, potentially in order to facilitate heat dissipation. Cooling is a major challenge in both wireless and standalone headsets given the proximity to the user’s head. Keeping a rear section of the headset away from the user’s head brings increased surface area for heat dissipation, which could enable better performance that would be possible if the module was directly adjacent to the user’s head.
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While there’s no indication yet that any of these designs will see the light of day, the fact that the patent was filed in the latter half of 2020, well after the launch of the original Index in 2019—and the level of detail on display—suggests that Valve is still actively doing research & development on VR hardware.
Thanks to Ilja Z and Cat Noir VR on Twitter for pointing the patent our way.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is releasing later this week on December 11th for PC VR headsets via SteamVR and the Oculus PC client. You can play the game easily on an Oculus Quest if you’ve got a powerful VR gaming PC, but there’s no firm news on a Quest-native port just yet.
Unedited gameplay footage is not allowed to be shared just yet — the preview and review guidelines were very clear that any footage must be edited into a video preview to be shared. Since the review itself is fast-approaching I’m just focusing my efforts on that video instead.
My entire time with Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has been on an Oculus Quest 2. I’ve tried it using both Oculus Link and using Virtual Desktop and I can say without a doubt I prefer it with Virtual Desktop.
If you want to play Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond on Quest you have two options: Oculus Link or Virtual Desktop. Oculus Link should have less latency, which means you won’t perceive any delay at all between what you’re doing and what you see in the headset, but you’ve got a cord dangling from your head. Virtual Desktop on the other hand is a fully wireless way of connecting to your PC, however depending on your Wi-Fi signal and router quality you may perceive a small amount of latency.
For me personally, I prefer Virtual Desktop every single time. Guy Godin’s software is incredible and it allows me to access both my SteamVR and Oculus PC Store libraries, at once, without ever needing to connect my Quest to my PC with an actual cord.
To be frank, playing PC VR games wirelessly is extremely liberating. The visual fidelity is far beyond what a standalone headset such as the Quest is capable of, so being able to experience high-end VR, such as Medal of Honor and other PC-exclusive games, from the ease of access found within a wireless standalone device, feels like magic.
After playing games like Onward, Contractors, Solaris, and more on Quest natively, I didn’t want to go back to a wired experience — especially with Medal of Honor VR’s multiplayer — so I simply didn’t and it works great.
Granted, I’ve got a strong home network and a very good connection speed. Things download very quickly for me and that’s a major factor when considering how playable a VR game would be for you over a streamed wireless connection. But if your internet is up to snuff, this is absolutely the best way to enjoy Medal of Honor VR. I did not notice any added latency, at least not that I know of, was able to get in the top 3 of most multiplayer matches, and had no trouble playing through a lot of the campaign as well.
Do you plan on playing Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond and if so, would you do it wirelessly using an Oculus Quest and Virtual Desktop? Let us know down in the comments below!
A new patent application filed by Valve last year but published today details a wireless VR system.
“In at least some implementations, a wireless data transport system is provided that includes an electrically steerable antenna, such as a phased-array antenna, that is operative to selectively steer its beam based on electronic control input,” the patent application’s description reads.
“The wireless data transport system may include a tracking subsystem that is operative to track a mobile wireless device (e.g., HMD, tablet computer, smart phone) as the mobile wireless device moves around in a tracked volume. Advantageously, the wireless data transport system utilizes the known current or predicted future position and/or orientation of the mobile wireless device receiving the data (e.g., video data) from the tracking subsystem and compensates for movement of the mobile wireless device by selectively adjusting the beamforming pattern of the steerable antenna based at least in part on the tracking data received from the tracking subsystem.”
We confirmed recently that Valve continues to explore wireless VR possibilities but this patent application offers one of the most interesting looks yet into the ideas being explored by the maker of the Index headset and SteamVR Tracking system.
“Among other things, this feature allows the amount of buffering to be decreased, which decreases latency—a critical parameter in some applications such as VR applications where MTP is an important industry metric,” the application continues.
“Further, in at least some implementations, tracking data from other objects, such as one or more hand-held controllers, may also be used to detect when a user’s hands are moving in a direction that may occlude the receiver antenna of the mobile wireless device. It has been found that even partial occlusion by a user’s hand, for example, can cause significant data loss without relying heavily on buffering, interleaving, or forward error correction.”
Earlier in the month a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Half-Life: Alyx confirmed that Valve’s hardware team is working on “what’s next”. The company’s Jeremy Selan himself noted the Index was already “two years old technology” at this point. In our interview following Alyx’s launch, Valve’s Greg Coomber also suggested that the game’s ending could have some implications for the future of the company’s hardware.
We’re still digging into the patent application and will update this post as we dissect more information about it.
Valve is still exploring wireless VR possibilities, a company representative confirmed in a statement made to UploadVR.
About one year ago the first Valve Index headsets started arriving to buyers and it brought to PC owners one of the best VR experiences on the market. In an article on Friday I outlined how comfortable it still is to use an Index for extended periods of time, but how difficult it is to recommend the system when there is no wireless option and there are other easy-to-setup wireless experiences on the market, like Oculus Quest.
During the launch party for the headset last year Valve President Gabe Newell commented they were looking into “several methods to do untethered Index,” which was his latest comment on the subject following an investment in Nitero’s wireless chip business (before it was acquired by AMD) and Newell’s reported statement in 2017 that wireless VR was a “solved problem.”
“We’re excited about the promise of wireless VR and are continuing to explore its possibilities,” Valve’s latest 2020 comment explains.
VR Market In Transition
The 2020 VR market was upended by the spread of COVID-19. Companies and partnerships were thrown into disarray, affecting the timelines for new products and the available stock of current systems.
There’s still a two month or longer delay for Valve Index from the time you order it to the time it arrives and Valve also commented to UploadVR that “we are continuing to make every effort possible to keep up with the ongoing demand and deliver units in a timely fashion, while navigating the challenges of shipping during the pandemic. We appreciate everyone’s patience, and we’ll let you know when we have more specifics.”
Facebook, meanwhile, accounts for roughly 45 percent of the VR headsets in use on Valve’s Steam platform, which is where tens of millions of gamers buy their PC games while being home to many of the most sought after VR games, like Skyrim VR and Half-Life: Alyx. Last month, Oculus Quest was used more with Steam than all Windows Mixed Reality headsets combined — a notable moment for a headset that didn’t officially support PC VR games until November 2019. We believe most of those Quests connecting to Steam use either the Oculus Link wired USB connection or the wireless Virtual Desktop sideloading option.
The Link option compresses scenes to a significant degree to send them over USB connections while Virtual Desktop also competes with other Wi-Fi network traffic to deliver wireless VR, a situation that can lead to uncomfortable experiences for some.
Wireless Race
Based on comments made by Oculus technical guide John Carmack at last year’s Oculus Connect, we believe it is likely a priority at Facebook to make a dedicated wireless Link between Oculus Quest and PC. For instance, a dongle that plugs into a USB port could use existing Wi-Fi bands supported by the Quest and, unimpeded by other network traffic, might maintain a more consistent experience. Such a convenient accessory — something much easier to install than the earlier Vive Wireless Adapter — would likely have a dramatic effect on both PC VR usage and on the mix of headsets using Valve’s Steam.
Index, though, isn’t a standalone unit and doesn’t contain a battery so if Valve is working on a wireless solution for the headset it would likely be different from whatever Facebook develops. Valve, of course, also shipped the Steam Link box in 2015 to extend “your Steam games library to any room of the house via your home network.” Valve stopped making Steam Link over the last two years and switched to a service which can stream your traditional Steam gaming library to many different devices, including Android and iOS.
Could Valve make something like a “SteamVR Link” that would make an untethered headset of not just Index but other PC VR headsets? Such an accessory would likely have a dramatic effect on PC VR usage all its own, but obviously, this most recent statement doesn’t provide any indications one way or the other.
That’s a saving of $248 over buying the Cosmos and wireless adapter separately, which would cost $1047. The offer lasts until the end of April 8 and is only available in the US.
A significantly more affordable way to achieve wireless PC VR is using the Virtual Desktop software for the $399 Oculus Quest. However, this heavily compresses the data and results in much higher latency than HTC’s purpose built 60 GHz adapter. This can make people feel sick and, because the data is sent over your regular WiFi network, hitches can occur when the network is congested or the router is too far away, which can also induce sickness.
The Cosmos offers a wider range for controller tracking than the Quest thanks to side cameras, as well as high resolution LCD panels and integrated headphones. It’s also more comfortable for the majority of people, as the Quest is a front heavy headset and can therefore cause discomfort.
But of course, Quest has the benefit of also being a standalone headset. HTC and Qualcomm have teased the idea of connecting a smartphone to the Cosmos, but this hasn’t panned out yet- and perhaps never will.
As of writing, Cosmos is the only consumer-oriented headset with a wireless adapter. This allows the user to rid themselves of a tethered cable, one of the core “friction points” of PC VR – managing it is a conscious effort that takes the user out of the virtual world they’re supposed to be in.
For many PC gamers, wireless capability may be the push they need to buy a headset and jump into SteamVR, and the Cosmos is a decent option. So if you’re one of those people, and $800 sounds like a fair price, you may want to take a look at this offer.
Vive Cosmos, HTC’s latest PC VR headset and replacement for the original Vive, launches today for $700. Just like all of company’s PC VR headsets to date, Cosmos will be able to use the Vive Wireless Adapter, but you’ll need a few things first that the company will soon be selling in a special Compatibility Pack.
If you happen to already own Vive Wireless and are looking to use it with your new Vive Cosmos, you’ll have to wait for official support which HTC says in a blog post should arrive later this month.
Also coming later this month is a Cosmos wireless compatibility pack for $50, which arrives with a 21W power bank, connection cable for Cosmos, and attachable headstrap pad.
Image courtesy HTC
At $300, the Vive Wireless Adapter itself normally arrives with a 10050mah battery pack that provides an output capable of driving the original Vive for 2.5 hours wirelessly. HTC maintains that Cosmos requires more power than the current Vive Wireless Adapter battery can support due to the headset’s inside-out tracking.
The company additionally revealed that Cosmos’ camera tracking data is kept entirely on-board, which although touted as a privacy feature makes for higher headset power consumption.
It’s uncertain whether the Wireless Adapter will see a price bump when it’s officially available as a bespoke product, and not just a $50 add-on kit. Whatever the case, HTC says it will be offering the 21W battery as a part of all Vive Wireless Adapters in the future.
If you’re wondering where out signature deep-dive review is, you may have to wait a bit longer because we’ve run across a worrying issue with our review unit that may or may not be a feature of the headset.
At Oculus Connect 6, CTO John Carmack spoke about how he “would eventually like” Quest to support PC VR wirelessly, and discussed how this could happen.
Yesterday, Facebook announced Oculus Link, an upcoming feature which lets users use their Quest as a Rift via a USB 3.0 cable. Facebook also intends to sell its own high quality optical cable for $79.
But much of the magic of Oculus Quest is in its lack of cable. The ideal scenario, technical limitations aside, would be Quest supporting PC VR wirelessly.
WiFi streaming is already possible on Quest using third party sideloaded apps such as ALVR, however there is some noticeable latency with these solutions. Virtual Desktop even added this as a feature to its Oculus Store build, but this was quickly removed by Facebook for not meeting technical standards.
Carmack stated that it’s “exciting to find out how many tweaks that we’ve got at the firmware level for making remote rendering work better across the existing WiFi links”.
If Quest streaming did work on standard WiFi, it would theoretically also work with a PC in the cloud. However, Carmack was far less optimistic about this, stating that there was no obvious way to make it “a great experience” without a fundamentally different rendering architecture. Thus, Facebook would “probably never endorse” this with current technology.
But even on a local network, the variability in WiFi routers makes guaranteeing the performance of low latency streaming difficult. To eliminate this factor, Carmack suggested the idea of a USB Oculus WiFi dongle which would pair directly to the Quest. With this, the CTO suggested Facebook could make a “super high quality” wireless experience and that he was “pretty excited about that direction”.
We’ll certainly be watching out for a potential announcement of a wireless version of Oculus Link at next year’s Oculus Connect.
In order to use Air Link your PC hardware also meet the 
